by Deanna Chase
Smart, sexy, and independent. Those were Jacob’s three weaknesses, and Yvette had them in spades. He was doomed. He slowed his steps, putting more distance between them. He needed to cool it, stop thinking about her as the woman he took home the other night, and put her strictly in the business zone. Because he well knew that romance in the business place was a recipe for disaster.
She paused at her office door. “We should probably sit down and discuss the other ideas in your folder.”
Surprise rendered him speechless for a moment. Sure, she’d come around on the café idea, but he hadn’t expected her to be so willing to consider more changes so soon.
“You don’t have to look so surprised. I’m not completely unreasonable,” she said with a teasing smile.
“I’m just…” He shook his head. “It’s been a surprising day.”
“You can say that again.” Her long chestnut hair swung to the side as she turned and disappeared into her office.
He followed, trying and failing to keep his eyes off her backside. If only she hadn’t filled out her jeans so well, then he might not have missed whatever it was she was saying.
“How about right here?” she waved an arm at the space under the window.
“Pardon?” he asked.
“For your desk,” she said. “We could put it here until we can get the storage area cleaned out and set up as a proper office. It currently doesn’t have a window in there, but it shouldn’t be too hard to put one in.”
“Oh, right.” Sharing an office with this lovely creature wasn’t going to bode well for his productivity. He was going to need to get his own space set up as soon as possible.
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. There isn’t much other choice, unless you just want to set up every day where the new café is going to go.”
He frowned. “Why would I want to do that? Here is fine.”
She let out a long breath, looking relieved. “Okay, good. I thought for a moment you were unhappy with the situation.”
He shook his head and moved over to help her clear the space. “Do you have another desk around here, or do I need to pick one up?”
She bit her lower lip. “It’s buried in the storage room.”
“Of course it is,” he said with a chuckle. “Well, shall we go rescue it?”
Yvette glanced at her desk and the pile of invoices waiting for her. “Absolutely. Anything to save me from catching up on the payables.”
Jacob followed her gaze to the stack of invoices and suppressed a groan. He’d already had a look at the books and wasn’t expecting any expenses until the end of the month. If she was just paying more invoices now, that meant their hopes of having positive cash flow for the month just flew out the window.
“Don’t look like that,” she said, slapping his arm. “It’s not that bad. They’re just the invoices from the last-minute December orders. We still had a good holiday season.”
Good was the problem, he thought. What they needed was great. “How good is good?”
Yvette rolled her eyes. “You’ve been here less than one day. Can’t you just settle in before we go to war over the books?”
No. The word flashed in his mind like a neon sign. Every instinct told him to stay right where they were and to go over the financials with a fine-toothed comb, but he knew if he suggested such a thing at the moment, then their tenuous truce would turn back into a war. “You’re right. Let’s get set up. We can talk about the budget and projections later.”
“Sure,” she said, but her tone was less than enthusiastic.
“Numbers aren’t your thing?” he asked.
“Is it terrible if I say no?” she asked with a grimace. “Isaac used to do the books for me. He’d keep me up to speed, so I always knew what was going on, but I have to admit, it’s not my favorite part of the business.”
“Then it appears we’re a match made in heaven, Ms. Townsend. Because numbers happen to be one of the few things I’m very good at. I don’t mind taking on that role,” he said as he followed her into a dark room at the end of the hallway.
She flipped the light on and suddenly tensed as she glanced around.
Jacob’s eyes went wide as he took in the pyramid of boxes. “Is this all back inventory?”
“Uh… yes?” she said, as if she were unsure of herself.
“Son of a—” His phone started playing “Forget You,” the R-rated version. He grabbed it, silenced the ringer, and stared at Sienna’s face flashing on his screen. She was the last person he wanted to talk to right then… the last person he wanted to talk to ever, for that matter, but they still had unsettled business. “Sorry. I have to take this.”
Yvette nodded.
He turned, already striding out of the storage room as he quickly answered the call. “Do you have paperwork for me?” he asked by way of greeting.
“What, no happy New Year or how was your Christmas?” she asked, her voice silky and smooth.
“Honestly, Sienna, we both know you don’t care what I did over the holidays, and I know I certainly don’t want to hear about your Caribbean vacation.” He reached the front door of the store and strode out into the cold.
“So your dad did tell you then,” she said. “Bri and I—”
Jacob cleared his throat as pure anger made his throat raw. What planet was she living on that made her think he had any interest in hearing about the vacation his ex-fiancée had taken with his ex-best friend? “Just get to the point, Sienna. Tell me why you called. Is it something to do with Enchanted Bliss?”
“Why do you always have to be in such a hurry to talk business?” she asked with a whine in her tone.
Jacob paced the sidewalk. “Maybe because there isn’t anything else to discuss.”
“You know that isn’t true, Jacob. We had a business together. We almost got married. And—”
“And you turned the daily operations over to a teenager who had no idea how to run the place while you were off sleeping with my best friend. Meanwhile, I went back to work for my father just so we could get your dream beach house you were so desperate to buy.” The familiar fury washed over him, and he had an intense desire to smash his phone on the sidewalk.
The anger that had consumed him for the last year was the main reason he’d escaped Los Angeles for Keating Hollow in the first place. And it had mostly worked for the five days that he’d been there. He hadn’t thought of Sienna or Brian hardly at all since he’d rolled into town and not once since he’d laid eyes on Yvette.
“Jacob,” she said with a sigh. “I’m just calling because the realtor has closing paperwork for you to sign on the house. And while you’re here, we might as well finish the deal for Enchanted Bliss.”
“We can do everything by email,” he said coolly. “I’ll have my lawyer get in touch.” Then before she could say anything else, he ended the call. His phone immediately started ringing again, but he silenced it. He knew her too well. All she wanted was his attention. But this time he’d be damned if she was going to get it.
Jacob ignored the third phone call from Sienna and immediately called Norm, the family lawyer.
“Stanley, Stanley, and Cooper,” Penny, Norm’s assistant, said into the phone.
“Hey, Pen. It’s Jacob. I need to talk to Norm. Is he around?”
“Sure is, doll,” she said, sounding like an old Hollywood siren from the 1950s. “Hold on for a quick sec.”
There was a click on the line, followed by another, then Norm said, “Jacob, I was just about to get in touch with you. Ms. Teller’s lawyer finally sent over the paperwork for Enchanted Bliss. There’s been a development.”
His stomach churned, making him nauseated. “What development?”
“Ms. Teller is refusing to sign the final paperwork unless you’re here in person. That includes the sale of the beach house, too.”
“This is a joke, right?” He couldn’t imagine any valid reason why Sienna would need to see him, unless it was just to feed her own e
go or try to create some new narrative that didn’t paint her as the cheating gold digger she’d turned out to be.
“I’m afraid not. Her lawyer said she’s just flat out refusing until she sees you in person.”
He held back a curse. “When do I need to be there?”
“Saturday. Ms. Teller is insisting it’s the only day she has free. If you’re agreeable, I can make arrangements to be available. And if we’re lucky, you can fly in first thing. I’ll set up the appointments back to back, and you can get out of town on an evening flight.”
Saturday, Jacob thought as he rolled his eyes. Why did she have to insist on making the lawyers work on the weekend? She was a piece of work.
As much as he appreciated his lawyer trying to reassure him he wouldn’t need to spend much time in Los Angeles, he knew better. He’d bet his last fifty bucks he wouldn’t make it out of town until at least Monday. If Sienna was insisting on seeing him, she wanted something. And she wasn’t going to sign anything until she got it. Still, if he wanted to be free of her, he really didn’t have any choice but to show up. “I’ll be there. Just email me the times of the meetings and I’ll work around them.”
“All right. I’ll have Penny set it up. See you Saturday.”
He ended the call. It immediately started vibrating. Sienna was still trying to get in touch with him. Disgusted, he ignored her and shoved the phone in his pocket. Instead of going back into the shop, he took off down the street, walking at a brisk pace. He needed to work off some steam before going back into the bookstore. He didn’t want to inadvertently take out his frustration on anyone else, especially Yvette.
Chapter Six
Yvette stood in the storage room staring at the boxes. There was far more extra inventory in there than normal. Something was seriously off. She strode quickly back to her office and rummaged through the invoices still sitting on her desk. All of them were what she expected except for the one on the bottom. She let the others fall to the desk as her eyes bugged out.
“Oh no.” She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she’d read it incorrectly and needed a fresh look. But when she scanned it again, there was no mistaking her error. Instead of ordering ten copies each of the four-book series, she’d inadvertently ordered ten cases of each. And because they were published by a small independent publisher, they were non-returnable.
A pit formed in her gut. How had she let this happen? In all the years she’d owned the bookstore, they’d never made such an erroneous error. Isaac had done most of the ordering as well as the bookkeeping. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how, it was just the way they’d divided the tasks that needed to be done. She glanced at the invoice, hoping she could blame the error on Isaac. But when she saw the date the order had been placed, that fantasy flew out the window. This order had been made the week after Isaac had moved out and had abruptly stopped helping her at the bookstore.
No wonder she’d messed up. Not only had she not been completely familiar with the ordering software, she’d also been a complete emotional mess. She slammed her fist down on the desk in pure frustration. Why couldn’t she have uncovered this error last month, before she had a partner to answer to? She sank down on the desk and buried her face in her hands. Good goddess, Jacob was going to think she was an idiot. And he’d be right.
She sat down in her office chair, turned on her computer, and meticulously went through each and every invoice. Once they were all logged and paid, she looked at the bank balance and winced. It was lower than was comfortable. No wonder Jacob had been concerned.
Yvette sat back, her face flushed and warm with her humiliation. She had to do something to fix this. But how? Even though she knew the answer would be no, she picked up the phone, called the supplier, and asked if there was any way she could make a return. The answer was a solid no. It was what she’d been expecting, so instead of getting upset, she started to brainstorm a plan B.
First things first. She needed to get eyes on those extra books. Nothing was going to happen with them sitting in the storage room.
After spending the rest of the day unpacking boxes and then working on the front window display, Yvette was sweaty and half-starved as she stood outside her shop, eyeing the front window. She had to admit, it looked good. Really good. But compared to the other front windows on Main Street in the enchanted town, it wasn’t quite enough to wow the tourists. It needed something… something magic. What she needed was an air witch. She doubted Brinn had the skill to make it as elaborate as Yvette envisioned, and she was busy closing up the store. Yvette decided she’d worry about it in the morning.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the time. It was almost six, and Jacob was still MIA. Truth be told, since she’d realized her error, she hadn’t exactly been looking forward to his return. She’d wanted to have a solid plan in place before she had to fess up to her error. And while the window was a good start, she still needed to figure out some sort of event to bring customers in.
Still, she was a little worried about him. He’d left hours ago to take his call and had just disappeared. Biting her lower lip, she pulled up his contact number and hit call. It rang three times before going straight to voicemail. “Jacob, it’s Yvette. I’m just calling to… well, I guess just to make sure you’re okay. You left abruptly today, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost or something. If you get this, just do me a favor and check in to put my mind at ease. Thanks.”
She ended the call and felt like a fool. Jacob was a grown man. He certainly didn’t need her acting like a mother hen. It wasn’t as if he had regular hours he was supposed to be working the store. He was part owner, not a sales clerk. She strode back into the store and made a beeline for her office. After picking up her purse and her keys, she strolled back out into the store.
“Brinn?” she called out.
Her employee stepped out from behind the register counter. “Yeah?”
“I’m headed out for the night. Do you need anything before I go?”
Brinn shook her head, her blond ponytail swaying gracefully behind her. “I’ve got it. Have a good evening.”
“You, too.”
Yvette steered her Ford Mustang down the mile-long drive that led to her father’s house. The familiar twinkle lights lining the trees made her smile, and the day’s tension started to slip away. She always felt whole when she was around her family, like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
Cars were already lined up in her dad’s drive. She parked behind Noel’s old SUV and hopped out. Before she could even make it to the front porch, the door flew open and a small brindle colored shih tzu darted out, followed by Yvette’s six-year-old niece Daisy. Her dark curls were just as wild as she was as she chased the puppy into the yard, yelling, “Buffy! Buffy, come back!”
Yvette’s sister Noel stepped out onto the porch, glanced at her daughter and the puppy running in circles, then smiled at Yvette. “I see you managed to survive the day. Can the same be said for your smokin’ hot business partner?”
“Hot business partner?” Drew asked as he appeared from the house. “Has my girl set her sights on some new guy in town?”
Noel rolled her eyes and slipped her arm around his waist. “Like I have time to deal with one more man in my life.”
They both turned their attention to Yvette. Noel raised her eyebrows in question. “Well, how did the rest of the day go?”
“We came to terms on the café. We’ve decided to partner with Mary and the Incantation Café. But besides that?” Yvette shrugged “No idea. He got a phone call and left. I haven’t seen him since before lunch.”
“I saw him at the brewery,” Drew offered. “Said hello, but that’s about it.”
“At least he didn’t drown in the river,” Yvette muttered.
“What?” Noel asked with a chuckle. “Why would you think that?”
“No reason. Come on, let’s get inside. I’m starving.”
“Daisy,” Noel called. �
��Time for dinner.”
The little girl gave her mother a half-hearted, “Okay.” But she continued to chase Buffy, and Yvette knew Daisy wouldn’t be obeying her mother’s instructions without a little help.
“Daisy, aren’t you going to give your aunt a hug?” Yvette asked, walking over to her and the puppy.
Her niece immediately made a beeline to her aunt, her arms wide. Yvette crouched down and was nearly knocked over when Daisy barreled into her and hung on tight as Yvette lifted her up and swung her around. “I missed you, sweet girl,” Yvette whispered in her ear.
“I missed you, too, Auntie.” Daisy planted a loud kiss on Yvette’s cheek and then giggled as Yvette twirled her some more.
“Auntie’s hungry,” Yvette said, already walking up to the door. “Wanna come in so we can get some dinner?”
Daisy nodded enthusiastically, but before they could make their grand entrance, the little girl shouted, “Drew, get Buffy!”
“Yes, princess,” he said with a laugh and strode over to collect the dog.
“She has him wrapped around her little finger,” Noel said, not bothering to lower her voice.
“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Drew said, winking at her.
Noel fingered the sapphire promise ring hanging around her neck and got a dopey look on her face.
A trace of jealousy rolled through Yvette, but she ignored it and smiled at her sister, focusing on the fact that she truly was happy that Noel had found someone who loved her and Daisy so much. It was just hard to watch a new relationship blossom when your own had blown up so spectacularly.
The house was warm and full of laughter as they entered the living room. Olive, Clay’s daughter and Abby’s new step daughter, sat with Yvette’s youngest sister Faith in front of a crackling fire. Olive was staying with Noel and Daisy while Clay and Abby were on their honeymoon. The pair were playing cards, while Lin and Clair milled around in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner.
Yvette glanced at the table that was already set and frowned. “Why nine place settings?” She quickly counted the heads in the room, making sure she hadn’t missed anyone. Six adults and two children. “Is someone else joining us for dinner?”